Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

Quotes

• The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

• There is no one, no matter how wise he is, who has not in his youth said things or done things that are so unpleasant to recall in later life that he would expunge them entirely from his memory if that were possible.

• Only through art can we get outside of ourselves and know another's view of the universe.

• We feel in one world, we think and name in another. Between the two we can set up a system of references, but we cannot fill in the gap.

• The one thing more difficult than following a regimen is not imposing it on others.

• The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

• One of a hostess's duties is to act as procuress.

• It is a mistake to speak of a bad choice in love, since as soon as a choice exists, it can only be bad.

• The fixity of a habit is generally in direct proportion to its absurdity.

• The charms of a passing woman are usually in direct relation to the speed of her passing.

• The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

• All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last.

• Desire makes everything blossom; possession makes everything wither and fade.

• Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

• Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.

• The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

• A powerful idea communicates some of its strength to him who challenges it.

• People who are not in love fail to understand how an intelligent man can suffer because of a very ordinary woman. This is like being surprised that anyone should be stricken with cholera because of a creature so insignificant as the comma bacillus.

• The only paradise is paradise lost.

• It is always thus, impelled by a state of mind which is destined not to last, that we make our irrevocable decisions.